With a running track and sports field, the park is frequently used by students from the adjacent Point Grey Secondary School. The open space of Kerrisdale Park is home to Vancouver’s third artificial turf field due for completion in late fall 2005.

Point Grey/Kerrisdale Artificial Turf Playing Field

Opened in June 2006 this 10,000 square meter, monofilament polyethylene fiber surface is in-filled with recycled crumb rubber to provide better shock absorbency. It is 6 mm in height, mimics grass and is the latest advancement in artificial turf. The field also sports four state-of-the-art lighting masts making play possible after dark minimizing glare and light spillage to the surrounding area. The field is designed to accommodate soccer, field hockey, rugby and ultimate, rain or shine.

Cost for the new field was $1.9 million.

The new artificial turf field, which has 5 times more capacity than natural turf, will be shared between the school’s weekday usage and Park Board field bookings for evening and weekend games and days during the summer months.

History

Once a part of the Municipality of Point Grey before the 1929 amalgamation, Kerrisdale Park was known as Strathcona Gardens since 1931 when the Park Board decided to plow the turf for community vegetable plots. At this time the country was in the depths of depression and the gardens helped feed the unemployed.

By the mid-1940s, the Point Grey Community Centre Society conceived plans for an indoor ice arena at the Strathcona Gardens site. In May 1947, The Park Board agreed to lease part of the gardens to the Society for the arena. Kerrisdale residents then launched an aggressive and wide spread fundraising campaign to raise money for the project. These donations plus funds from a local improvement bylaw along with some Park Board money, brought the project to fruition.

The new skating facility, named the Kerrisdale Arena, was officially opened on November 11, 1949. The Park Board assumed full operating responsibility for the arena in the early 1970s and soon after it was renamed for one of Canada’s early hockey greats, Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, who also served as Park Commissioner from 1951-1956.